Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) leverages the good will, resources, and talents of New York City's leading law firms to provide pro bono legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers.

Through their projects, VOLS' staff and volunteer attorneys help all kinds of New Yorkers solve difficult legal problems that have significant consequences for them and for their families.  

VOLS' projects enable their volunteers to reach New Yorkers who need civil legal service. Projects include School-based Children's Project, Hospital-based Children's Project, Elderly Project , Immigration Project, Incarcerated Mothers Law Project, Microenterprise Project and Unemployment Insurance Advocacy Project.  

In the Unemployment Insurance Advocacy Project, pro bono lawyers represent New Yorkers who have been denied unemployment benefits at administrative hearings. In 2015, over 91 lawyers from 11 firms volunteered through the project, and helped claimants secure approximately $200,000 in unemployment benefits that had been wrongly denied.

Unemployment benefits provide crucial, temporary income support to people who have lost a job through no-fault of their own. In most cases, employers have some kind of representation at unemployment insurance hearings.  However, more than 90% of claimants are unrepresented. Only about 28% of unrepresented claimants win their hearings.  When claimants are represented by a lawyer, their odds of securing these crucial benifits nearly triple. In 2014, for example, 84% of claimants represented through VOLS won unemployment benefits. 

How Unemployment  Insurance Advocacy Project Works

VOLS Project Director recruits lawyers and offers a two-hour introductory training. VOLS carefully screens and assesses cases that come in through a hotline, refers appropriate matters to their trained volunteers, and continues to offer support and guidance to volunteers as they prepare their cases for hearings.

Volunteer attorneys interview clients, review documents, and develop a case theory. They then appear before an administrative law judge, conduct direct and cross-examinations, and make closing arguments. On average,  preparation for a case takes 15-20 hours, over three to six weeks. VOLS offers a similar opportunity for law firm summer associates.

Law firms and corporate law departments interested in developing or expanding their pro bono programs please contact Sara  Effron, VOLS's Associate Director, at seffron@volsprobono.org or 347-521-5703.

Unemployment Hotline (347) 521-5720